Controversial Texas Abortion Law Moves Forward

Texas – Gov. Rick Perry's emergency legislation requiring doctors to do a sonogram before performing an abortion is moving forward.

The Senate State Affairs Committee approved a compromise between a stringent House version and a more flexible Senate draft during a meeting Tuesday. The bill still requires doctors to show the woman a sonogram, to hear the fetal heart beat and provide a detailed description of the fetus.

State Sen. Dan Patrick says the new draft restores an exemption for women who are victims of sexual assault, incest or in cases where the fetus is fatally deformed. The compromise also exempts women who live in rural counties from waiting 24 hours between receiving the sonogram and having the abortion.